Cameras for making three-dimensional images are known in the prior art. One example of the state of the prior art is depicted in co-inventor Winnek's U.S. Pat. No. 4,488,795, the disclosure of which is incorporated herein by reference thereto. In the camera described by the referenced '795 patent numerous lenses and optical components were required; and, the camera was neither inexpensive nor practically portable, as cameras must be in order to gain widespread acceptance and use.
The referenced '795 patent described the difficulties surrounding the development of a camera apparatus having a complex mounting apparatus enabling precise necessary relative movements of optical components in order to expose true three-dimensional picture images on light-sensitive picture film. Those difficulties have heretofore remained unsolved and have provided an impetus underlying the making of the present invention.
Another approach followed by the prior art was to provide a camera having a very large stationary lens, such as 18 inches in diameter. Such lenses were extremely expensive and very heavy, not lending themselves to the concept of a portable camera.